Mikael Botkoveli: Mikheil Saakashvili asked me to convey to His Holiness that he will continue his hunger strike - compared to the previous meeting, I clearly noticed that he lost weight

Mikheil Saakashvili asked me to convey to His Holiness that he will continue his hunger strike, because this is his principled position, - said the Secretary of the Patriarch at the Rustavi Prison, Archpriest Mikael Botkoveli after visiting the ex-president.

According to him, Mikheil Saakashvili thanked the Patriarch.

"I conveyed the message of His Holiness to Mr. Mikheil Saakashvili. I personally handed him a letter in which His Holiness once again asks him to end the hunger strike. He worries about him starving for so long.

Mr. Mikheil thanked His Holiness, I have already visited him for the second time and he feels the care of His Holiness. He noted that he respects His Holiness. Mikheil Saakashvili asked me to convey to His Holiness that he will continue his hunger strike, because this is his principled position and he is not going to make any adjustments to this position at this stage", - Botkoveli said.

Regarding the health of Mikheil Saakashvili, the Secretary of the Patriarch noted that there is a loss in weight compared to the previous meeting.

"Compared to the previous meeting, I clearly noticed that he lost weight. I will refrain from evaluating other dimensions because I am not a specialist in this field and I can not understand such issues. To say that I have noticed anything special in the sense that he has difficulty speaking or forming thoughts - it does not really seem like it. He spoke as usual.

I also advised him to stop the hunger strike, but he has a firm position on this issue. As for the advice regarding the clinic, I will refrain from discussing such issues, it is beyond my competence", - Botkoveli said.

He also commented on the issue of pardoning Mikheil Saakashvili.

"The patriarch has no authority to pardon him, His Holiness should address the president. At the request of him and the church, there have been such cases all these decades, and I would like to remind you that there is such department in the Patriarchate where relevant documents are submitted to this or that prisoner and after reviewing these documents it is sent to the Ministry of Justice. I do not know how the human rights activists will understand this, at least I wanted to clarify it - as such, the patriarch can not pardon anyone.

There are dozens and hundreds of such letters, but I want to tell you that not all letters are satisfied, because we recommend not for the heavy category of prisoners, but for light crimes.

Issues related to such topics can be raised. The legal commission, which is in the patriarchate, will deal with such issues, and then send them to the appropriate instances as they deem necessary", - said the secretary of the patriarchate.